The Problem with Problems

Often standing in the way of solving problems are more problems. Whether this is the case, it will be discovered quickly in Step2.
You may find yourself talking about ways for solving the problem in terms of solving other problems. If you need to fix the door hinges, for example, you need a screwdriver. However, you can't remember where you left it the last time or who borrowed it last. Until you get the screwdriver or buy another one, the door hinge won't be fixed.
You may also find yourself talking about conditions for solving the problem in terms of solving other problems. These are things that must be there or the way certain things must be to solve the problem. But these conditions themselves are also problems. For example, in order to get a good resell price on your car, you need to fix it up. Literally, the condition of your car needs to be better to fetch a better price. But in order to fix it up, you need to find extra cash. Which was why you wanted to sell the car anyway.
You can also indicate cause of the problem to be another problem. You can find this in statements like "We cannot meet customers' demands because we can't afford the tools to finish the jobs sooner". This is very similar to the first one above except in one small but important way. The problem here is you can't meet customers demands because you don't have the tools because you can't afford them. But what is also true is that because you don't have enough money, you can't buy the tools you need to finish the job sooner. Because you can't finish the work quickly enough, customers are left unhappy. It is different than the first one in this way: the lost screwdriver didn't cause the door hinge needing to be fixed.

The key to tackling these types of problems is to establish a strategy of approach. A strategy is plan of action to achieve a goal. While the goal in general is to solve the problem, for a strategy to be successful the goal has to be clear. Then the plan of action can be specific. While you do know you need to fix the car, knowing exactly what part of the car to fix is better (the goal). Then you can plan how to fix each part (the plan of action).
A strategy approach is a method of planning. This is useful especially when you don't know where to start or how to go about fixing the problem. This approach is based on rules. First, you have to determine how you are going to address the problem before solving them. One key question to answer is "Do you solve it all together or do you pick away at each problem one by one?" The answer to this will be the first rule. It will be "Solve one problem at a time" or "Find a solution that solves the problem and it's related problem at the same time." If you are working with others, this can be discussed to reach a consensus or at least gain into insights of the people you are working with. If a rule has been made, you need make it known so that everybody is on the same page. As you are making rules, the solution or at least the way to solve the problem will be come clearer.
Establishing these rules will help you go through Step3 much faster.